Car wheel grinder



Dec. 21, 1948. E, sw I 2,456,753

CAR WHEEL "GRINDER Filed May 12, 19-415 mmvfoa,

" MZZ'W .ATmkNEK Patented Dec. 21, 1948 Elmo E. 'Swanee, San Francisco, Calif., assignor of two-thirds to Monroe 0. Kidder. Lcs Angeles,

Calif.

Application May 12, 1945, Serial No. 593,431

6 Claims.v (01. 51254) The present invention relates to apparatus for grinding and truing the treads of railway car wheels.

One of the most frequent causes of car and locomotive lay-ups is a flat wheel. Under present maintenance practice, a car or locomotive which develops a flat spot on a wheel must be sent to the shop, jacked up, the axle removed, the wheel trued in a lathe or grinding machine of suitable size, and the axle. replaced. This operation requires considerable time and labor, and keeps the vehicle out of service from the time it starts its journey to the shop until it is returned to the line.

The principal object of the present invention is to eliminate this long out of service time by providing a. machine which can be attached to the car or locomotive, and which will grind and true the wheel while the vehicle is moving, in normal service. adjusted for proper operation by a maintenance man at any stopping point, and can be removed, after its work has been. completed, either at the same stopping point upon the return of the vehicle, or at any other stopping point along the route. The apparatus can be applied to railway locomotives, freight or passenger cars, or. to urban street cars.

Other objects of the invention are to provide antomatic means for causing the grindingwhee-1 to traverse the width of the. wheel tread to. insure a laterally even surface, and to provide automatic means governed by the speed of the vehicle for moving the grinding wheel into and out of contact with the wheel tread, so that. no grindingwill be done while the car wheel is stationary, and no added friction load will be imposed when the vehicle is. starting. The grinding operation begins to function only after the vehicle has lat tained a predetermined speed.

Still further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following de scription of two typical embodiments showing the apparatus as driven and controlled both electrically and by mechanical means. It is to be.

understood that the form, construction and arrangement of the several parts herein described and illustrated may be changed, withinv the limits of the claims hereto appended, without, departingfrom the spirit of the invention as defined in said claims.

Reference will be made to. the accompanying. drawings, wherein Fig. 1 is a side: elevation of a. wheel rinding, machine having ele tric drive and n The machines can be attached and fixed bracket 19.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a wheel grinding machine having mechanical drive and control.

In the drawings, the reference numeral l designates'a flanged railway car wheel having a tread 2, said wheel being fixedly mounted upon an axle 3. The tread 2 is subject to wear in use, developing irregularities and flat spots which necessitate grinding down the entire circumference to restore its smoothness.

My invention contemplates an abrasive grinding wheel 4- positioned for operative contact with the. tread 2 of the car wheel I. In the electrically driven machine illustrated in Fig. 1, the grinding wheel is slidably mounted on a spindle 5 provided with, a spline 6, and said spindle is an extension of the armature shaft of an electric motor 7. Speed reducing gearing 8 drives a parallel shaft 9 journalled in a bracket l0 secured to the shell of the motor 1. The shaft 9 has a double reversed helical groove H. A yoke I2 is rotatably and slidably mounted on the shaft 9 and. has a pin or key 13 engaging the groove i I whereby said yoke is caused to move back and forth endwise upon said shaft when the latter rotates. The two arms of the yoke l2 straddle the grinding wheel 4 and are freely fitted upon the spindle 5, so that the grinding wheel is automatically caused to traverse back and forth over the width of the wheel tread 2 while the grinding operation is in progress, between the position shown in full lines and that shown in broken lines.

The housing of the motor I is mounted in trunnions, one of which is shown at l4, in a fixed bracket IS. The bracket l5, only a portion of which is shown, is suitably formed for separable attachment to some convenient member of the car truck which has constant relation to the axle 3, so that there is no relative movement between said bracket and the car wheel I, other than the rotation of said wheel. The whole machine swings about the pivot [4 to lower and raise the grinding Wheel 4 into and out of contact with the wheel tread 2. The distribution of weight is such that, normally the grinding wheel is out. of Contact with the wheel tread, the bottom of the motor resting upon a stop IE on a fixed bracket it.

The grinding wheel is lowered to grinding position, as shown, by a solenoid i-B attached to a The armature 20 of said solenoid is attached to an arm 2| secured to the motor housing, so that when the solenoid is GHQ! sized, the motor is raised and the grinding wheel t is lowered. into contact with the wheel tread: -2. An adjustable stop 2'2 on the bracket: lllimits the downward movement of the grinding wheel, and serves as a feed screw to limit the depth of grind.

The electrically driven and controlled machine just described is adapted for use on vehicles having available electric power, such as electric street cars, electric and Diesel-electric locomotives, and passenger cars having electric generators for lighting. It is contemplated that the solenoid l8 will be connected, through suitable control devices well known in the electric control art, to

the traction motor of the street car or locomo-"- tive, or to the axle driven generator of the passenger car, in such a manner as to energize said solenoid only after the car attains a predetermined speed. When so connected, the grinding wheel is out of contact with the wheel tread when the car is standing still, and no additional load is imposed While the car or train is starting. Once it reaches the predetermined minimum speed,

however, the solenoid is energized and the grinding operation begins and continues until'the car speed again falls below the minimum.

As an example of such control, in the case of a car equipped with a generator 23 driven by a belt 24 from the axle 3, a suitable voltage operated control device indicated at 25 is connected with the generator line wires 26 and with the solenoid l8 and motor 1 by wires 2'! and 28 respectively.

A manual switch 29 is provided for opening the entire grinder circuit. As the speed and voltage of the generator 23 build up, the control device 25 first cuts in the motor 7, starting the grinding wheel 4 to rotating, and then energizes the solenoid l8, causing said grinding wheel to descend into contact with the wheel tread 2. Grinding then continues until the generator speed drops below the predetermined minimum, whereupon the control device 23 cuts out both the solenoid l8 and the motor I. In the case of cars or locomotives having electric traction motors, the same general arrangement for control of the grinding machine is readily adaptable, the control device 25 in such cases being actuated by appropriate means not shown.

Fig. 2 is illustrative of an embodiment of the invention adapted for use on vehicles which have no electric power, such as railway freight cars and steam locomotives. The grinding wheel 4 is fixed upon a spindle 3| journaled in a swinging bracket 32. A pulley 33 is splined on said spindle and connected by a belt 34 with a drive pulley 35 fixed upon a shaft 36. The shaft 35 is journaled at 3! in a fixed bracket 38, and carries a bevel pinion 39 meshing with a bevel gear 40 on the car axle 3. The grinding wheel is thereby driven mechan-. ically from the axle.

The drive shaft 36 has a double reversed helical groove 4| which imparts reciprocating motion to a follower 42 thereon, and said follower is connected by a lever 43, pivoted at 44 on the fixed bracket 38, with a thrust collar 45 secured upon the spindle 3|. The spindle is thereby moved back and forth endwise, sliding through its journals 32 and its splined pulley 33, and causing the grinding wheel 4 to traverse the wheel tread 2 from side to side while grinding is in progress, moving from the position shown in full meshing with the driving pinion 39. When the governor shaft is at rest, or rotating at low speed, the governor spring 52 keeps the arm 41 depressed and the grinding wheel 4 is elevated out of contact with the wheel tread 2. When the governor shaft attains a predetermined speed, the collar 48 raises, allowing the arm 41 to lift and the grinding wheel'4 to descend intoIcOntact Withthe wheel tread. The weight of the rocking parts is so proportioned that the grinding wheel descends by gravity when the governor collar 48 moves up. A suitable adjustable stop 53 is provided to limit the downward movement of the grinding wheel and the depth of grind.

The mechanically driven machine of Fig. 2 is controlled automatically by the governor 49 for the same purpose as described above in connection with the electric machine of Fig. 1. When the car is stopped, the grinding wheel is out of contact with the wheel tread, but as soon as a predetermined minimum car speed is attained, the grinding wheel is lowered into contact'with the wheel tread, and grinding proceeds until the car speed again falls below the minimum.

The expression servo-motor means as used to define the control means for moving the grinding wheel into and out of contact with the car wheel is generic to the solenoid l8 and its controller 25 of Figure 1 and to the mechanical centrifugal governor 48-49 of Figure 2. Both the solenoid means and centrifugal governor means are forms of servo-motor mechanisms.

Operation and'use'of the machines will be apparent from the foregoing. The fixed brackets ([5, I1 and IS in Fig. 1, 38 in Fig. 2 jconstitute frames which are formed for attachment to'various types of car trucks in such a manner as to correctly position the machine for operation upon any wheel of the truck. When a wheel needs grinding, a machine is attached to the truck at a regular stopping place of the car,'and is connected and adjusted for proper operation. Thereafter, whenever the car speed exceeds the predetermined minimum, the grinding wheel automatically moves into contact with the Wheel tread and traverses back and forth across the width of the tread, the grinding operation continuing until sufilcient metal has been removed to allow thelimit'stop 22 to function. Whenthe car Wheel has been ground true,the machine is removed at any convenient stopping place of the car.

Since the invention is adaptable to locomotives as well as cars, it is to be understood that the word car, as used herein, includes all rail running vehicles.

I claim:

l. A machine for grinding the wheel of a railway car while in motion, comprising an electric generator driven by the rotation of said car wheel, a movable bracket, an abrasive grinding wheel rotatably carried by said bracket and positioned by the movement thereof in and out of contact with the car wheel, an electric motor excited by said generator for rotating said grinding wheel, and electrical means controlled by the speed of said generator for moving said bracket.

2. A machine for grinding a wheel of a railway car While in motion, comprising a movable bracket, an abrasive grinding wheel carried by said bracket and positioned for contact with the car wheel, mechanical driving means connecting the grinding wheel with the car wheel whereby said grinding wheel is rotated by said car wheel, and a centrifugal governor driven by the car wheel, said governor having a member connected with said bracket for moving the same in response to changes in. the speed of said car wheel.

3. A machine for grinding the wheel of a railway car while in motion comprising a movable bracket, an abrasive grinding wheel rotatably carried by said bracket and positioned by the movement thereof in and out of contact with the tread of the car wheel, power transmitting means connecting the car wheel with the grinding wheel whereby said grinding wheel is driven by the rotation of said car wheel, and servo-motor means actuated by the car Wheel and responsive to the speed thereof, said servo-motor means including a movable element connected with said bracket for moving the same.

4. A machine for grinding the wheel of a railway car while in motion comprising a movable bracket, a grinding wheel mounted on said bracket for rotation and axial reciprocating movement, said grinding Wheel being shifted into and out of contact with the tread of the car wheel by the movement of said bracket, power transmitting means connecting the car wheel with the grinding wheel whereby said grinding wheel is driven and axially reciprocated by the rotation of said car wheel, and servo-motor means actuated by the car wheel and responsive to the speed thereof, said servo-motor means including a movable element connected with said bracket for moving the same.

5. A machine for grinding the wheel of a railway car while in motion comprising an electric generator driven by the rotation of said car wheel, a movable bracket, an abrasive grinding wheel mounted on said bracket for rotation and axial reciprocating movement, said grinding wheel being shifted into and out of contact with the tread of the car wheel by the movement of said bracket, an electric motor excited by said generator for rotating and axially reciprocating said grinding wheel, and electrical means con trolled by the speed of said generator for moving said bracket.

6. A machine for grinding a car wheel while in motion comprising a movable bracket, an abrasive grinding wheel mdunted on said bracket for rotation and axial reciprocating movement, said grinding wheel being shifted into and out of contact with the tread of the car wheel by the movement of said bracket, mechanical driving means connecting the grinding wheel with the car wheel whereby said grinding Wheel is rotated and axially reciprocated by the rotation of said car wheel, and a centrifugal governor driven by the car wheel, said governor having a member connected with said bracket for shifting the same.

ELMO E. SWANEE.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 449,350 Elder Mar. 31, 1891 750,479 McCormick Jan. 26, 1904 959,502 Gail May 31, 1910 981,135 Sterling Jan. 10, 1911 1,225,858 Raule May 15, 1917 1,429,316 Bagi Sept. 19, 1922 1,633,885 Castillo June 28, 1927 1,748,585 Reed et al. Feb. 25, 1930 2,059,590 Leonhauser Nov. 3, 1936 2,304,847 Piron Dec. 15, 1942 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 5,012 Great Britain Mar. 31, 1915 

